Latest California Healthline Stories
Will Covid Spike Again This Fall? 6 Tips to Help You Stay Safe
Recent research suggests that the covid virus is mutating to better dodge people’s immune defenses. It could soon evade monoclonal antibodies used to treat covid. KHN examines what public health officials believe is on the horizon and how best to fight the disease.
Watch: What Experts Advise for Seniors Living Under the Long Shadow of Covid
For older people, the pandemic is as taxing and worrisome as ever. Experts in geriatric care, mental health, social services, and infectious disease joined a KHN-Hartford Foundation panel to talk about a third covid winter and its outsize toll on seniors.
Watch: Meet the Latest Fact-Checker — Your Doctor
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with American Medical Association President Dr. Jack Resneck Jr. about how misinformation affects doctors and their daily efforts to treat patients.
Is Covid ‘Under Control’ in the US? Experts Say Yes
PolitiFact has been tracking this campaign promise since 2020. Experts are now saying it’s fair to describe the covid pandemic as “under control.”
With Polio’s Return, Here’s What Back-to-Schoolers Need to Know
Because polio has been vanishingly rare in the United States for nearly a half-century, doctors may not consider it when diagnosing patients with typical symptoms. Here are the signs and the science behind an infectious disease that is largely a mystery to modern society.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Graham’s Bill Recenters Abortion Debate
Republicans would like to shift the political focus away from abortion to economic issues for the midterm elections, but a bill from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy has put the issue squarely back on their agenda. The proposal was not welcomed by many of his colleagues, especially Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Also this week, the muddle about where the fight against covid stands and near-record-low numbers of uninsured in the U.S. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times join KHN’s partnerships editor, Mary Agnes Carey, to discuss these issues and more.
Southern States’ Lackluster Monkeypox Efforts Leave LGBTQ+ Groups Going It Alone
The gay community is disproportionally affected by the monkeypox outbreak, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says public health efforts should prioritize gay and bisexual men. But in the South, some LGBTQ+ advocates fear that this is not happening consistently. They say they are having to take matters into their own hands in the absence of a coordinated response from state governments.
Did the US Jump the Gun With the New Omicron-Targeted Vaccines?
With fears of a winter surge looming, government agencies have authorized and encouraged vaccination with a newly formulated booster. But the science to support that decision remains inconclusive.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Judge Takes Aim at the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Care Benefits
A federal judge in Texas — the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 — has ruled against some of the ACA’s preventive benefits, including the requirement that employers cover medication to prevent HIV. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tries to make abortions slightly more available to veterans and their dependents. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment.
‘He Stood His Ground’: State Senator Will Leave Office as Champion of Tough Vaccine Laws
California state Sen. Richard Pan, who spearheaded some of the country’s most ambitious vaccine mandate legislation, is leaving office this year because of term limits. A pediatrician, he plans to practice medicine full time but has not ruled out a future run for office.